Do you ever find yourself circling your home office looking for keys, receipts, due bills and important documents? Â Have you ever misplaced that important document right before you really need to use it? Whatever the reason, wherever you are, lost items are often a part of everyoneâ€™s lives and we have all found ourselves cursing the clutter around us. While to many, the task may seem daunting, organizing your environment can help tidy up other aspects of your life as well.

While the reasons to get and stay organized are endless, there are a few that stand out in helping to create a healthier, more balanced life.

Organization Creates A More Relaxing Environment

Raised blood pressure, high levels of anxiety and additional and unnecessary stress are all factors of an unorganized, chaotic environment. There certainly is something methodical about every last item from your computer monitor to your paperclips, having a designated place to rest. When you know where everything is, where everything belongs, and that you would be able to find anything in a flash, you are free to relax your worries and focus one more positive aspects of life.

Organization Allows More Efficiency/Effectiveness

Being organized allows you to complete household or office tasks more efficiently and effectively.

Organization Provides More Time for Other Activities

Creating and maintaining an organized environment can free up some extra time to complete more projects or enjoy other activities, such as:

Exercise

Movie/TV Time

Leisure reading

Gardening

Quality time with loved ones

Crossword Puzzles

Cooking/baking

Travel

Having a tidy environment is the first step to freeing up some extra time to enjoy the world, people, and things around you.

Obstacles to Organization

There are many arguments and justifications offered to explain why we avoid Â getting organized: it takes too much time, it costs money to buy organizational furniture and equipment, knowing what to do with the clutter is stressful. While these worries are real, organizing despite them will ultimately help to eliminate such concerns from your life.

To help you overcome such obstacles, you should spend some time in your home office space, considering ways to optimize your organization. User friendly products like well designed and ergonomically enhanced desks can help you create a workspace that is efficient and usable.Â Cable cord management kits can help you eliminate and better organize necessary clutter.Â Sleek office chairs can best utilize your desk space while providing comfortable working support.

Getting organized is the first step to enjoying the rest of your lifeâ€”what are you waiting for?

We all can imagine how freeing and rewarding it feels to have a well organized, clean home office space. We feel calm and relaxed as we sit in a vacuumed room, smelling lemon scented cleaner, knowing that all of our important documents are appropriately filed and the items on our To-Do lists have been triumphantly scratched out.

Organizational Tips

But how do we get there? Where do we find the tricks to maintaining an organized life? Try these tips to get yourself on the path to methodically unite the aspects of your home office and your life:

Prioritize.Number items using a scale of importance to recognize what needs to get done and what should get done. Also, start to recognize which tasks take longer for you to do and which ones can be done in a matter of minutes. David Allen Way is his bookÂ Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free ProductivityÂ utilizes a two-minute rule: â€œIf any of the resulting tasks can be finished in less than two minutes, you should invariably do them immediately.â€

De-clutter your work and home environments. This means grabbing the trash can and the shredder and eliminating unnecessary/unused items or documents. Getting rid of some things can make you nervous, but actually tossing them into the trash will provide you with much needed control over your life. Organizing unnecessary and unused items is useless and takes up time you could use more effectively.

Lists, lists, lists. To-dos, goals (long and short-term), grocery. Write everything down. Scratching out or checking off can be a rewarding action after accomplishing your many tasks.

Do one thing at a time. Finish. Repeat.

Color-coordinate your organized material. This will not only help you remember where you put what, but it will also liven up the tidy bins and folders and give you a visual representation of your hard work.

Use a calendar. Or get one, as the case may. A desk calendar, wall calendar, pocket planner, anything that will keep your events as organized as your items. It can also be helpful to color-coordinate calendars to help compartmentalize events and deadlines.

Delegate your tasks. All good leaders know the trick to surviving a heavy workload: know when and who to ask for help. Having other people work on your organization lightens your load and gives you company. Additionally, when you have community projects to which other people are tied, working together makes it easier for everyone to stay committed to the project.

Give yourself time to accomplish tasks. Avoid doing things last minute and realize that some things (especially projects) take time to complete.

Develop good habits: getting enough sleep, eating healthy, daily exercise, putting things away when you are finished using them, etc. Living by a routine will help you feel in control of your life.

Allow yourself to say â€œno.â€ You canâ€™t do everything for everyone. This also requires the ability to discern when something is too muchâ€”when to say â€œwhen.â€ Once you master this ability, you will be able to apply appropriate and adequate attention to the tasks in your life that you choose.

Some of these skills are easier to manage than others. Some can be accomplished right away, while some need to be cultivated into habits.Â Ultimately, these ten tips will help to get you started on a more organized path. No matter whatâ€”donâ€™t be afraid of the change that will occur, for the better, when you start to organize your life.

Organizational Tools To Help You Implement These Tips

Of course, achieving an optimal sense of organization in your home office is difficult, and perhaps even impossible if you do not have the appropriate tools to cultivate order and routine. At VersaTables we recognize the increased productivity and happiness that comes with strong organization skills. To that end, we offer a line of high quality home and office products designed to help you experience the positive power of organization.

Keyboard Trays

LCD Mount Monitor Arm Solutions

Monitor Mounts can help ensure that your computer monitor is placed at optimal height, helping you organize your office space in a healthy and comfortable manner.

Cable, Wire, Cord & Power Solutions

Nothing can be more distracting and detrimental to your home office organization than a large mess of computer cords and cables. Consider our cord and cable management kits to help gain control over all the wires, cords and power supplies in your office space.

According to data published by the American Psychological Association, new medical and psychological research indicates that humans are not actually as good at multitasking as we think we are. Despite this, we all find ourselves doing multiple things at once throughout our dayâ€”or so we think. Apparently, our brains are actually just switching focus very rapidly. While this conclusion supports the idea that driving and talking on your cell phone is dangerous, this information should not discourage your initiative to improve your multitasking, or rapid switching skills, when it comes to working in your home office.

In order to survive in this busy world, everyone is required to multitask at some point in their life. In our culture the idea of doing more in less time holds immense value.

However, what may seem like the path to increased efficiency is quite the opposite, According to researchers, key findings suggest multitasking is â€œa mythâ€â€¦ â€œa splendid theoryâ€ â€¦ â€œan allusionâ€â€¦ â€œnotoriously inefficient.â€

While this may be true, equally true is that fact that the ability to switch quickly back and forth between tasks is a necessary skill for the average individual, because quite often there will be two or three things that demand attention at once.

How To â€œMultitaskâ€

For lack of better terminology, we will qualify the ability to devote attention to multiple projects in rapid succession, and even move your attention back forth from individual items, as â€œmultitasking.â€

If you are not very good at quickly refocusing your attention between different demands, or your mind switches between tasks a little slower than others, donâ€™t worry, there are two useful techniques to mastering the mysterious art of multitasking.

Along with time management, avoid trying to do everything at once. The mythical multitasking can actually be harmful to your ability to accomplish increased productivity levels. Instead, allow your mind to switch between the tasks to ensure that things are progressing in the manner you intended. For example, while waiting for a document to upload you might check your email in a second working window or on a second monitor.Â In doing this, you are not, in fact, multitasking; you are instead switching your individualized focus between different events while letting them unfold in an organized manner.

Practice switching focus between two or three things in a short space of time. Like the above example, set multiple tasks into motion and attempt to keep them organized and progressing. This will exercise your brainâ€™s ability to switch more rapidly between demands.

It is important to remember, however, that some tasks should have your complete focus. Through prioritizing your tasks, you should be able to determine items you need to solely focus on and items with which you can split focus. In doing both of these things, you will be able to better organize your daily tasks and create a more orderly life. Ultimately, the need to multitask, or split your focus, will decrease through becoming more organized.

Often associated with virtue and morality, integrity seems to be unrelated to the idea of organization. In looking at integrity from a new perspective, however, you can see direct parallels between it and life organization.

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, while being a moral institution, â€œintegrity is [also] a formal relation to the self.â€ Essentially, your integrity is comprised of the set(s) of rules and principles by which you live. These rules are defined by a number of different things varying from person to person, but in general, a person with integrity lives within the boundaries of their established rules, trying not to break them. How do you find these principles, though? Through the mess of everyday life, it is easy to become confused as to what creates your integrity. Organizing your life can provide refreshing perspectives on where you set your rules.

Everything Around You Should Represent The Best Parts Of You

Organizing your life by forming good habits, prioritizing, de-cluttering, and many other useful techniques is an extremely effective way to explore your personal integrity. Through this organization process, you will gain control over your life, clearing away the chaos, and leaving you with a more focused perspective. Such refocus allows you to reevaluate where your priorities and principles lie.

Organizing your life also frees you from the distractions that discourage you from objectively looking at your priorities. When you experience a cluttered daily life, it is much harder to move beyond the mess to see the larger picture. Life organization provides you with an opportunity to clear up the confusion in order to gain perspective and control. From here, the control you have now gained will allow you to begin to solidly plan for your future based upon the principles of your integrity.

The Path to Organization and Enhanced Integrity

You are certain to find thousands of various suggestions about ways to become more organized and can access many articles offering organization tips. Each individual undoubtedly prefers their own unique method, and techniques that work for others might not work for you.

However, one observation remains universal. To have truly effective organization requires optimal organizational tools. Utilizing efficient and elegantly designed office and filing furniture can significantly help you to build further structure into your life.

Such structure also enables you to live with increased integrity, achieving further clarification and transparency with others and with yourself.

Ten Benefits Of Living With Integrity

Many of the benefits of living with increased transparency in your personal and business affairs are obvious. Aside from the enhanced ability to keep your important documents and accounts in better order, there are other life benefits associated with living more organized. Tipsforsuccess.org suggests the following ten benefits are consequential from experiencing and increased amount of organization and integrity in your life:

You live with less regrets.

You become a good example to others.

Your powers of observation are more accurate.

Less mental work is required to manage your life and your affairs, allowing attention to be devoted to other things.

You handle rejection and criticism more easily.

You will experience fewer life and personality conflicts.

You can more easily reconcile your actions and decisions.

You can more easily accept responsibility for your life.

You earn the reputation of being a person with integrity.

Your chances of making illegal or unethical decisions significantly decrease.

Investing in the time and cost to organize your life may seem like a daunting task, but there are many benefits associated with such a project, one of which is increased clarity. Through enhancing the organization of your home office, you will be granted clarity in order to more easily dissect and prioritize the demanding tasks and responsibilities of your life.

Life and Business Coach, Evan Carmichael, explains that by becoming better organized individuals are able to achieve clarity and increased prioritizing skills in twelve primary and important ways. He writes:

You will be able to be more focused on what you want to achieve.

You will be able to be more productive.

You will be able to manage your time more efficiently.

You will be able to do your work more economically.

You will be able to reduce the clutter in your workspace and reduce your stress levels.

You will be able to achieve more balance in your life.

You will be able to set and achieve your goals in a more efficient manner.

You will be able to present a more positive image.

You will be able to prioritize your tasks.

You will be able to be more flexible and more creative.

You will be able to achieve more energy and enthusiasm.

You will be able to achieve freedom from chaos.

Increased Clarity Provides For Clearer Task Analysis

Increased ability to perform effective and comprehensive task analysis is one of the best benefits resulting from the usefulness of the clarity you achieve with enhanced home office organization. When you have created a sense of organization in your office space, you can approach the analysis required by office activities with greater clarity.

Your home office likely serves many purposes. It may be where you file important documents, pay bills, maintain personal files, manage digital pictures and other types of media, work on professional tasks while at home, keep track of educational materials, schedule appointments and complete any other number of tasks. With home offices serving so many purposes, it is easy for things to become unorganized and lose your sense of clarity in stacks of papers, envelopes, receipts and electronic files.

By maintaining clarity with enhanced organization techniques you can perform useful task analysis exercises to manage demands like those listed above.

The Task Analysis Process

Breaking a task down into its integral parts in order to prioritize and list the smaller tasks for completion is the conceptual heart of home office task analysis.

According to ergonomics consultant Dan MacLeod, â€œâ€˜Analysisâ€™ simply means to separate a whole into its constituent parts.â€ Furthermore, he indicates that â€œif you approach analysis from the wrong way, it could end up costing more than itâ€™s worth.â€

You need to approach analysis from an organized perspective in order to have the clarity needed to break any task down to its individual parts for prioritization.

In applying this skill to an everyday home office task, the process follows a basic organizational structure:

Now that the larger project has been broken down into smaller tasks, you are better able to analyze with clarity which hierarchical order each small task belongs in.

Rearrange smaller tasks into a prioritized order

Complete tasks in the order they appear

This methodical approach will provide you with the necessary tools to organizationally prioritize your life in the most effective and efficient manner. To learn about more ways to organize your home office space, consider reading â€œTen Organization Tips.â€

With the emergence of MySpace in 2003 and the explosion of Facebook and Twitter in 2006, social networking has become a worldwide phenomenon. Many users of social networking sites have integrated them into their daily practices. And with new numbers coming from NielsenWire indicating that the average user spends 421 minutes on Facebook per month, thatâ€™s more than 14 minutes per day. Such numbers are only on the rise.

Whether or not you use social networking to stay in touch with old friends or use more sophisticated computer knowledge to create new social networking sites, it is important to make indulging in your social networking hobby the most efficient and enjoyable experience as possible.

Considerations For Extended Computer Use

Whether it be creating new social networking sites or pages, or just keeping in contact youâ€™re your friends and family, many people spend lengthy periods of time with their computers. Spending hours at your computer building your personal page on a social networking site, while exciting, can have some major drawbacks. After all, we simply were not made to only sit for extended periods of time. Social networking requires a great amount of human-machine interfacing and in order to protect your limbs, joints, muscles and body it is important to be aware of the best ways to workâ€”and playâ€”at your computer.

Tired eyes are a common symptom of lengthy computer use. Optimizing the lighting in your office and other easy steps can help combat eye strain.

Opening multiple windows can clutter your screen space. Consider multiple monitors to free up your screen. This can also help visually organize your networking tasks for more efficiency, and can also aid you in more professional or task oriented work.

A padded computer chair with adjustable arms can mean the difference between a stiff back and a comfortable experience.

When using a laptop, consider using a lap desk, or a professional desk with a docking station. This enables you can keep your computer stationed on a flat surface, but still enjoy the benefits of mobility. Working in this way will also allow you to use a USB or Bluetooth mouse with your laptop for more comfortable wrist movements.

Considerations For Extended Computer Use

In addition to the health concerns associated with lengthy computer use, there are also other things to consider when making your social networking hobby the most efficient experience as possible. For example, social networking also has a huge picture and video component. With this, there are often a lot of external devices and connecting cords needed when networking. In order to store these appendages, filing cabinets and computer desks with drawers and cabinets can be very beneficial. While this is not the only aspect of social networking that needs organization, keeping your hobby neat is the first step in ensuring your ability to keep your hobby for an extended period of time.

Social networking often lends to hours on the computer. Though the above concerns are associated with extended computer use, be aware that easy ergonomic solutions are available. It is important to be able to enjoy your social networking hobbies, so make sure to take necessary measure to avoid these and any other concerns. This will enable you to enjoy your hobby for years to come.

Photography has long followed the major technological trends, eventually landing itself in the digital world with computer editing as a component. Along with this emergence in technology, video making and editing have also experienced a rise in popularity and accessibility. Many people make this their career; many only follow it as a hobby. For whatever purpose you choose to dabble in photo/video editing, there are many things to consider in order to make your experience efficient, smooth and rewarding.

Photography and video making both require many different devices, programs and equipment in order to be successful. Not only do they require the actual photo-shooting tools, but you will also need several cords, electronics, smaller components, and space in which to work.

Enhance Your Editing Workspace

In editing, users will also need a comfortable work environment along with many additional devices for the editing process: mixers, card readers, CD/DVD burners, etc. Among all of this equipment, it is important to consider items that will make your picture/video hobby the most efficient and effective.

Dual monitors can provide you with extra workspace on your computer. This can help create visual organization and keep your different projects separate. Microsoft.com explains the importance and ease of working with dual monitors:

â€œIf youâ€™re looking for easy ways to improve your computing experience, one item that belongs near the top of any list is a second monitorâ€¦The possibilities are almost endlessâ€¦Edit photos or videos on one monitor while you keep a folder of your photos or video clips open on the other.â€

A computer desk with large storage capabilities will provide you with organized space to store all of your equipment. Additional storage can also be acquired with the use of high quality filing systems.

A desk with a large surface area is also suggested in order to have enough space for all of your additional devices to sit.

With the many cords needed for your devices and equipment, a cable management kit will help keep your cords from getting tangled.

Of course, because you can spend significant amounts of time behind your office desk filing, composing and editing videos it is important that you work to make sure your workspace is effective and efficient.

To create a comfortable, safe workspace, utilize the following:

A keyboard/mouse tray can make it easy to more comfortably command your computer. Â Using these products also allows you to hold your arms, wrists and hands in a neutral user position.

By using lamps or products with back lights you can combat tired and sore eyes.

There are many ways to ensure your editing environment is comfortable and safe, and they are certainly not limited to this list. Do what makes you comfortable and makes you work efficiently.

With the emergence of technology affecting our hobbies, it is also important to keep our environments equally as up-to-date. Maintaining an organized, comfortable work space can help deal with the stress of the many cords, devices, and products associated with photography, video files and the editing of such. These suggestions will help organize your hobby and ensure it is the most enjoyable experience possible.

With most people spending a majority of their time working in their professional lives, hobbies are usually second in command. When you finally do find the miraculous spare minutes or hours to indulge in your hobbies, do you ever find yourself split between which hobby you actually want to have fun with? Whether it be video editing, photography, gaming, or scrapbooking, it is highly beneficial to be able to enjoy all of your many hobbies.

The key to being able to have multiple hobbies in such a busy world is to carefully organize them. If all of the tools necessary to enjoy your hobby are neatly put away, your efficiency level and ability to effectively analyze the tasks associated with them goes up. In order to successfully multitask with your chosen hobbies, consider these tips to get you started.

Designate a space for your hobbies. Create a room, nook, or corner in your home to organize hobby-related things. A great place for this is a home office. Many hobbies are computer-related or dependent. If you keep all of your things together, it is more efficient to have them all organized in the same area.

Consider a computer desk with multiple drawers. This allows you to keep your different hobbies separated but still close to an important component: your computer.

A keyboard tray and a wall mount for your computer can optimize your space.With your computer on the wall and your keyboard and mouse neatly stowed away, your computer desk will become a multi-purpose table to use with your hobbies.

A cable management kit might also be beneficial for computer based hobbies. With so many chords and devices lying around, a computer desk gives you a place to stow them, and keeping those chords untangled and organized does not have to be a challenge when you have the proper tools.

Many people have multiple hobbies widely differing from person to person, but the one thing we probably all have in common is the difficulty in juggling our many interests. It will never be a breeze in this busy world, but taking these and other steps to organize your hobbies will make it that much easier to indulge.

Ever find yourself sitting at your computer desk for hours, rolling your neck and trying to adjust your back? Because computers and cyber networks have become such an integral part of our everyday lives, it is important to remain comfortable and in an enjoyable environment while spending time on such sites.. With the affordability and increased demand for computers comes the ever-increasing use of the internet for a wide number of purposes, from personal to professional. In fact, according to a recent article by IT Facts, Americans spend 32.7 hours a week online, and for many that time is spent in multi-player on line games or other recreational, social activities.

The Ergonomic Concerns of Online Gaming

Computer gaming has exploded in the last decade and many people find themselves sitting at their computer desks for hours at a time. Gaming expert, Jasper Juul, claims that computer games are designed with the distinct intention of engaging players on a frequent and consistent basis and for lengthy periods of time. This is apparent for all users who find themselves engrossed in their games. While their minds are engaged, however, their bodies are ignored and begin to feel the wear and tear of poor posture and positioning.

â€œThe practice of playing is repetitive. Achieving game tasks and goals may promote nervous and muscular tensionâ€¦and pain signals may be ignored because the enjoyment of the game overshadows them.â€

It is apparent that gaming for an extended period of time can be harmful to your body, but is there anything you can do to make your gaming hobby more comfortable and efficient?

Solutions for Your Home Office Gaming Comfort

Task chairs with adjustable arms and seat height can make the experience more comfortably tailored to the specific user. Further, computer chairs with reclining ability allow you to move more easily. Frequent movements are an important part of the ergonomics equation for computer use and help you avoid becoming too stiff and to keep blood flow moving.

It is always important to remember that getting up to move around for even a few moments is healthy when sitting in one place for an extended period of time.

Consider using a lapboard or a keyboard tray for your keyboard and mouse. This will allow you to recline farther away from computer screens and rest your back in your chair. It ultimately gives you more flexibility to position yourself to be comfortable.

Organize Your Home Office For More Gaming Enjoyment

To ensure that your gaming experience is more efficient, explore the following ideas to organize your computer space for optimum enjoyment:

Adjustable computer tables which allow adjustment of monitors and placement of computers.

There are many ways to ensure that your gaming experience is enjoyable, comfortable, and most importantly, safe. The most important note to remember when spending any extended period of time on the computer is to take specific ergonomic efforts to keep your body in a comfortable, relaxed, safe position. This will help avoid harmful effects and optimize your ability to continue gaming in the future.

When confronted with a small workspace, you can easily become frustrated, stressed, and overwhelmed. After all, itâ€™s difficult to have a productive environment when you feel cramped and cornered. Even though you may only have a small space to work with, through utilizing color, lighting, and furniture arrangement, it is still possibleâ€”and importantâ€”to make your space appear bigger for a more comfortable, relaxing, and productive space.

Tips for Maximizing Your Home Space

These tips will help you utilize your space wisely in order to make it appear larger:

Cream and light blue colors are the best combination to open up your space. In fact, most light colors help brighten up a room, giving it a larger feel.

Get rid of the clutter. Using the rule of three can help you determine which items you need to keep readily available in your space and which items can be moved into storage.

Utilize multi-purpose furniture. Having a coffee table that has drawers or cabinets allows you to use it as a storage space as well. There is also furniture that can extend to be larger, but can remain folded when unused.

Avoid blocking pathways with your furniture. Being able to walk in, out, and around your room will make you feel as if there is an adequate amount of space. Not being able to does the opposite.

Setting your furniture at a diagonal angle helps catch the eye to see the longest line available in the room.

Appropriate lighting also can grant your space a feeling of openness. Adequate lighting also helps to avoid eye strain while working in your space. Let as much natural light into the room as possible. If you do not have access to a lot of natural light, utilize lighting fixtures that are small and produce a natural-looking light.

Wall decorations are great, and give your space a personalized touch. However, in a small space, too many wall hangings can close the space rather than open it. You should still have them, but keep your pictures and paintings to a minimum in small rooms.

As a wall hanging, mirrors can make your room appear more open than it is. It helps to reflect light into the room and create the illusion of depth for a room.